Donna Kornhaber

Affiliate Faculty —
Ph.D., 2009,
Columbia University

Associate Professor, English

Contact

Interests

Film studies; intersections of film, theatre, and literature

Biography

Donna Kornhaber is Associate Professor in the Department of English at the University of Texas at Austin, where she teaches film. She is also an affiliated faculty member with the Department of American Studies. She holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University and an M.F.A. and B.F.A. from Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. Her work has appeared in Cinema Journal, Film History, and CameraObscura, among numerous other journals and edited collections. She is the author of Charlie Chaplin, Director (Northwestern University Press, 2014), which received reviews in The New York Timesand The Wall Street Journaland was named by The New Yorkeras one of their “Books to Watch Out For” in March 2014. The book also received a 2015 Robert W. Hamilton Book Award from the University of Texas at Austin Co-Operative Society. Her next book, Wes Anderson, was published in 2017 as part of the Contemporary Film Directors series from the University of Illinois Press.

Dr. Kornhaber was recently named a 2016 Academy Film Scholar by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for her project Women’s Work: The Female Screenwriter and the Development of Early American Film. She is a recipient of the college-wide Raymond Dickson Centennial Endowed Teaching Fellowship and the Josefina Paredes Endowed Teaching Award from the College of Liberal Arts, the university-wide President's Associates Teaching Excellence Award, and the state-wide University of Texas System Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award, the highest teaching honor within the University of Texas system.

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: Since the early decades of the twentieth century, scholars and filmmakers alike have sought to develop a theoretical understanding of the cinema as a cultural institution and an art form, attempting to determine what Jean Mitry calls “the essential components of cinematic expression … that define the rules of its existence.” This course offers a survey of the major developments in film theory, providing an introduction to the leading theorists of the twentieth century and to the primary themes and movements within film theory. At key points throughout the semester, significant theoretical works will be paired with representative films—those that directly inspired major theoretical works, that are directly analyzed by a major theorist, or that in some other way exemplify a particular branch of film theory. Major movements and theorists to be covered include Formalism (Eisenstein, Pudovkin), Structuralism (Mitry, Balazs), Post-Classicism (Bazin), Film Philosophy (Deleuze, Cavell), Neoformalism (Boardwell), and Psychoanalytic, Marxist, and Feminist criticism (Zizek, Debord). As an Honors Seminar, students will be expected to engage at length in writing with the theorists being studied. Additionally, students should expect to reflect directly on some of the major topics of film theory themselves, offering their own theoretical approaches to selected films.

Texts (tentative):The Film Theory Reader; other texts to be provided by the instructor.

E 397M • Film Anly For Litry Scholar

35360 • Spring 2018
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM CAL 221

Film Analysis for Literary Scholars

This course presents an introduction to formal film analysis for nonspecialists with the goal of giving literary scholars the tools to incorporate considerations of film into their research and writing. Major topics to be covered include technical film terminology, shot analysis, and strategies of formal reading. Students will also be exposed to the major schools of film theory and in particular to questions of narrative and representation in film form as compared to literary narrative. Examples will be drawn from across the American and European film traditions, including both classical and contemporary works. Likely directors to be considered include Welles, Hitchcock, Chaplin, Fellini, Truffaut, Scorsese, Lee (Spike and Ang), Fincher, and Anderson, among others. The course assumes no prior study of film, although students will be encouraged to consider possible ways that film might be incorporated into their own ongoing research projects. Evaluation will be through a combination of participation, a short paper, an annotated bibliography particular to the student’s research area, and a longer paper.

Description: Literature and film are often regarded as sister arts, though the familial bond is not always congenial. In this course, we will look across these two related art forms to discover the overlaps, parallels, and divergences that mark their century-long special relationship. Moving beyond a study of direct adaptation, this class will consider broader issues of influence, expansion, and extrapolation in the exchange of material and modalities between these sometimes competing, sometimes collaborative narrative forms. The course will be organized chronologically around a survey of some of the preeminent directors and films of the twentieth century, in each case preceded by a detailed consideration of those authors and literary works that most influenced these classic filmmakers and their films. From Charlie Chaplin’s reimagination of Dickensian struggle in the modern industrial landscape of Depression-era America in Modern Times to Martin Scorsese’s relocating and updating Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novella The Gambler to the world of 1980s New York, we will consider at length the multitudinous ways in which literature and film have remained in constant dialogue across centuries and even continents. Literary authors to be considered include Dickens, Dostoyevsky, Fitzgerald, Salinger, and García Márquez as well as playwrights like Shakespeare and Wilder. Directors to be considered include Chaplin, Welles, Hitchcock, Fellini, Nichols, Kurosawa, Scorsese, and González Iñárritu. Through this study, students will gain valuable experience practicing different modes of formal and narrative close reading across both textual and visual mediums, equipping them with the skills to critically analyze texts in a variety of literary and media-driven formats. Likewise, they will gain exposure to the rich history of the twentieth century’s major films and filmmakers seen through the prism of the vast literary world from which the cinema so frequently draws. Most importantly, students will come to understand both the connections and disconnections between these two consummate modes of modern expression—as well as related art forms like drama—and will be encouraged to form their own critical views of the ways in which art forms of all kinds both build on and depart from one another over time.

81670 • Summer 2017
Meets MTWTHF 10:00AM-11:30AM MEZ 2.118

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: From the days when MTV actually played music in the 1980s and 90s to the era of YouTube and online viral sensations, the music video has been a beloved fixture of popular culture for more than thirty-five years. Less well known is the genre’s deep connection with and indebtedness to the world of short-form filmmaking and the cinema proper, with upstart auteurs like Spike Jonze, David Fincher, and Mark Romanek and even Hollywood heavyweights like Martin Scorsese all working in the form at various points in their careers. In this course, we will explore the history of the music video as a genre of short-form cinema, focusing on the work of key music video directors set in the context of their other work in short and feature filmmaking. Focused in its first half on introducing and theorizing the work of select music video directors from the 1980s to the present, the course will turn in its second half to a series of independent, student-led research investigations into select topics and figures in the history of music videos, culminating in the preparation of a research project and in-class presentation. Key directors to be examined in class include Spike Jonze, David Fincher, Mark Romanek, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, Michael Gondry, Antoine Fuqua, Tarsem Singh, and Martin Scorsese. Music videos covered will include those featuring Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince, George Michael, Dire Straits, Bjork, R.E.M., Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, Weezer, The Beastie Boys, Fatboy Slim, Lady Gaga, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Beyonce, and Arcade Fire.

81795 • Summer 2017
Meets MTWTHF 11:30AM-1:00PM GAR 3.116

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: From its origins in the 1910s to the rise of Pixar Studios, animation has proved one of the most enduring and versatile artforms of the past century. In this class, we will take a broad perspective on the history and theory of animation in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, both in America and internationally. Students will also be introduced to the theoretical study of the animated film as a cinematic text and to key works on animation in film theory. Key topics and themes to be discussed include early animation of the 1910s and 1920s, major animation studios (Bray, Disney, Warner Brothers, MGM, Hanna Barbara, Van Beuren, UPA, Fox, Pixar) and figures (Harman and Ising, Leon Schlesinger, Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, Walter Lantz, Max Fleischer), television animation, wartime animation, documentary and non-fiction animation, the rise of computer animation, anime and other movements in European and non-Western animation. Ongoing consideration will also be given to transhistoric issues including animation’s shifting place in children’s culture and adult culture, animation’s relationship to popular culture and to high culture, and animation’s intersections with and influence on other media and genres.

Texts: Readings as assigned, provided by the instructor. Animated films to be discussed include selected shorts and full-length features from the 1910s to the present day. You will be required to watch several films a week for this class; films will be watched independently, outside of class time.

35405 • Spring 2017
Meets TTH 2:00PM-3:30PM PAR 304

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: This course presents a detailed examination of a select body of films that proved to be inflection points in the history of the cinema: pictures that changed the vernacular of filmmaking, that opened up new generic or stylistic directions, or that epitomized the work of a widely influential director. Through this examination, students can expect to obtain a solid grounding in film history and film theory as well as an introduction to the study of film genres and movements. Most of all, students will become versed in the major tactics and techniques of film analysis and in the rigorous study of filmic texts. Works to be considered range from the early sound era to the late twentieth century. You will be required to watch two films a week for this class; films will be watched independently, outside of class time.

Texts: Bordwell and Thompson-Film Art: An Introduction and supplementary readings as assigned.

35410 • Spring 2017
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM PAR 105

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: Film is a collaborative medium, but auteur theory argues that certain film directors are able to put an individual stamp on their work such that they can be regarded as the legitimate “author” of their films. In this class, we will take a detailed look at some of the most prominent contemporary “film auteurs,” those directors with a consistent and identifiable visual style, narrative approach, and set of thematic preoccupations. We will also consider key challenges to auteurism. Major questions to be considered include: In what ways might these directors’ body of films be regarded and analyzed as texts? To what extent can we (or should we) ascribe them authorship of their films? How does the concept of auteurship challenge or complicate other methods of film analysis, and in what ways can it work in concert with them? Through this class, students can expect to obtain a solid grounding in some of the major tactics and techniques of film analysis and in the rigorous study of filmic texts.

Texts: Bordwell and Thompson, Film Art: An Introduction; Grant, Auteurs and Authorship: A Film Reader; supplementary readings as assigned.

Description: Literature and film are often regarded as sister arts, though the familial bond is not always congenial. In this course, we will look across these two related art forms to discover the overlaps, parallels, and divergences that mark their century-long special relationship. Moving beyond a study of direct adaptation, this class will consider broader issues of influence, expansion, and extrapolation in the exchange of material and modalities between these sometimes competing, sometimes collaborative narrative forms. The course will be organized chronologically around a survey of some of the preeminent directors and films of the twentieth century, in each case preceded by a detailed consideration of those authors and literary works that most influenced these classic filmmakers and their films. From Charlie Chaplin’s reimagination of Dickensian struggle in the modern industrial landscape of Depression-era America in Modern Times to Martin Scorsese’s relocating and updating Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novella The Gambler to the world of 1980s New York, we will consider at length the multitudinous ways in which literature and film have remained in constant dialogue across centuries and even continents. Literary authors to be considered include Dickens, Dostoyevsky, Fitzgerald, Salinger, and García Márquez as well as playwrights like Shakespeare and Wilder. Directors to be considered include Chaplin, Welles, Hitchcock, Fellini, Nichols, Kurosawa, Scorsese, and González Iñárritu. Through this study, students will gain valuable experience practicing different modes of formal and narrative close reading across both textual and visual mediums, equipping them with the skills to critically analyze texts in a variety of literary and media-driven formats. Likewise, they will gain exposure to the rich history of the twentieth century’s major films and filmmakers seen through the prism of the vast literary world from which the cinema so frequently draws. Most importantly, students will come to understand both the connections and disconnections between these two consummate modes of modern expression—as well as related art forms like drama—and will be encouraged to form their own critical views of the ways in which art forms of all kinds both build on and depart from one another over time.

35385 • Fall 2016
Meets TTH 3:30PM-5:00PM PAR 206

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: Since its inception, and accelerating with the end of the Golden Age of classic Hollywood, the film industry has been marked by a succession of filmmaking movements that espouse particular, and often conflicting, philosophies of filmic storytelling and technique. In this course, students will receive a detailed overview of the major film movements that helped to define both filmmaking and film scholarship over the last half-century. In particular, we will look at Neo-Realism, New Wave, and New Hollywood, with short excursions into the Independent cinematic trends that followed in their wake in the US and abroad. Looking at the leading filmmakers of each movement and the major works of film scholarship that have sought to understand and contextualize their innovations and approaches, students will receive a broad introduction to both the language of film composition and the core techniques of film analysis. The course will focus primarily on each movement in its filmic manifestations but will include forays into corresponding literary and dramatic movements throughout for wider artistic context. By the end of the course, students can expect to have gained fluency in the major tactics of film analysis as well as a grounding in the development of some of the key movements in American and international film.

82115 • Summer 2016
Meets MTWTHF 10:00AM-11:30AM GAR 3.116

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: From its origins in the 1910s to the rise of Pixar Studios, animation has proved one of the most enduring and versatile artforms of the past century. In this class, we will take a broad perspective on the history and theory of animation in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, both in America and internationally. Students will also be introduced to the theoretical study of the animated film as a cinematic text and to key works on animation in film theory. Key topics and themes to be discussed include early animation of the 1910s and 1920s, major animation studios (Bray, Disney, Warner Brothers, MGM, Hanna Barbara, Van Beuren, UPA, Fox, Pixar) and figures (Harman and Ising, Leon Schlesinger, Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, Walter Lantz, Max Fleischer), television animation, wartime animation, documentary and non-fiction animation, the rise of computer animation, anime and other movements in European and non-Western animation. Ongoing consideration will also be given to transhistoric issues including animation’s shifting place in children’s culture and adult culture, animation’s relationship to popular culture and to high culture, and animation’s intersections with and influence on other media and genres.

Texts: Readings as assigned, provided by the instructor. Animated films to be discussed include selected shorts and full-length features from the 1910s to the present day. You will be required to watch several films a week for this class; films will be watched independently, outside of class time.

34490 • Fall 2015
Meets TTH 12:30PM-2:00PM PAR 208

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: This course presents a detailed examination of a select body of films that proved to be inflection points in the history of the cinema: pictures that changed the vernacular of filmmaking, that opened up new generic or stylistic directions, or that epitomized the work of a widely influential director. Through this examination, students can expect to obtain a solid grounding in film history and film theory as well as an introduction to the study of film genres and movements. Most of all, students will become versed in the major tactics and techniques of film analysis and in the rigorous study of filmic texts. Works to be considered range from the early sound era to the late twentieth century. You will be required to watch two films a week for this class; films will be watched independently, outside of class time.

Texts: Bordwell and Thompson-Film Art: An Introduction and supplementary readings as assigned.

E 397M • Film Anly For Litry Scholar

34840 • Fall 2015
Meets TTH 2:00PM-3:30PM PAR 302

This course presents an introduction to formal film analysis for nonspecialists with the goal of giving literary scholars the tools to incorporate considerations of film into their research and writing. Major topics to be covered include technical film terminology, shot analysis, and strategies of formal reading. Students will also be exposed to the major schools of film theory and in particular to questions of narrative and representation in film form as compared to literary narrative. Examples will be drawn from across the American and European film traditions, including both classical and contemporary works. Likely directors to be considered include Welles, Hitchcock, Chaplin, Fellini, Truffaut, Scorsese, Lee (Spike and Ang), Fincher, and Anderson, among others. The course assumes no prior study of film, although students will be encouraged to consider possible ways that film might be incorporated into their own ongoing research projects. Evaluation will be through a combination of participation, a short paper, an annotated bibliography particular to the student’s research area, and a longer paper.

Description: Since its inception, and accelerating with the end of the Golden Age of classic Hollywood, the film industry has been marked by a succession of filmmaking movements that espouse particular, and often conflicting, philosophies of filmic storytelling and technique. In this course, students will receive a detailed overview of the major film movements that helped to define both filmmaking and film scholarship over the last half-century. In particular, we will look at Neo-Realism, New Wave, and New Hollywood, with short excursions into the Independent cinematic trends that followed in their wake in the US and abroad. Looking at the leading filmmakers of each movement and the major works of film scholarship that have sought to understand and contextualize their innovations and approaches, students will receive a broad introduction to both the language of film composition and the core techniques of film analysis. The course will focus primarily on each movement in its filmic manifestations but will include forays into corresponding literary and dramatic movements throughout for wider artistic context. By the end of the course, students can expect to have gained fluency in the major tactics of film analysis as well as a grounding in the development of some of the key movements in American and international film.

LAH 350 • Film Theory

Since the early decades of the twentieth century, scholars and filmmakers alike have sought to develop a theoretical understanding of the cinema as a cultural institution and an art form, attempting to determine what Jean Mitry calls “the essential components of cinematic expression … that define the rules of its existence.” This course offers a survey of the major developments in film theory, providing an introduction to the leading theorists of the twentieth century and to the primary themes and movements within film theory. At key points throughout the semester, significant theoretical works will be paired with representative films—those that directly inspired major theoretical works, that are directly analyzed by a major theorist, or that in some other way exemplify a particular branch of film theory. Major movements and theorists to be covered include Formalism (Eisenstein, Pudovkin), Structuralism (Mitry, Balazs), Post-Classicism (Bazin), Film Philosophy (Deleuze, Cavell), Neoformalism (Boardwell), and Psychoanalytic, Marxist, and Feminist criticism (Zizek, Debord). As an Honors Seminar, students will be expected to engage at length in writing with the theorists being studied. Additionally, students should expect to reflect directly on some of the major topics of film theory themselves, offering their own theoretical approaches to selected films.

Texts:(tentative)The Film Theory Reader; other texts to be provided by the instructor.

35985 • Fall 2014
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM PAR 210

Prerequisites: Six semester hours of upper-division coursework in English.

Description: The cinema has a storied history of attracting writers from other mediums into its ranks—for reasons both artistic and economic, sometimes to great and sometimes to little effect. In this seminar, we will consider both the well known and the forgotten cinematic output of some of America’s most important twentieth-century authors, from William Faulkner to Dave Eggers in fiction and from Thornton Wilder to John Patrick Shanley in drama. We will investigate what these authors brought to the cinema, how their technique and output differed from, borrowed from, or was changed by the filmmaking universe of which they were a part, and how their work in film might change the way we read the works for which they are most famous. As a counterpoint, we will also consider the work of two authors who began their careers as novelists (Schulberg and Goldman) but met their greatest success as screenwriters. By the end of the course, students can expect to have gained fluency in the major tactics of film analysis as well as a grounding in the comparative study of literature and film.

Texts: Novels and plays include: Faulkner, The Wild Palms; Hemingway, To Have and Have Not;Wilder, Our Town; Kaufman and Ferber, Dinner at Eight; Steinbeck, The Pearl; Schulberg, What Makes Sammy Run?; Goldman, The Princess Bride; Lonergan, This is Our Youth; Shanley, Women of Manhattan; Eggers, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

Films include: Hawks (dir)/Faulkner, To Have and Have Not; Hitchcock (dir)/Wilder, Shadow of Doubt; Marx Brothers/Kaufman, A Night at the Opera; Steinbeck, The Forgotten Village;Kazan (dir)/Schulberg, On the Waterfront;Hill (dir)/Goldman, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; Lonergan (dir), You Can Count on Me; Jewison (dir)/Shanley, Moonstruck;Mendes (dir)/Eggers, Away We Go

Requirements & Grading: Participation (15%); two 5-page essays, one of which will be revised (25% + 25%); one 8-10-page essay (35%)

E 395M • Am Lit/Film/Drama Btwn Wwi/II

36115 • Fall 2014
Meets TTH 2:00PM-3:30PM CAL 419

American Literature, Film, and Drama Between the World Wars

From the height of American modernist fiction to the rise of the Hollywood film industry, the period between the First and Second World Wars was arguably one of the most artistically vibrant and influential epochs of the century. In this course, we will look across genres and mediums at some of the major artistic figures of this moment in the areas of film, literature, and drama. We will pay particular attention to the intersections and influences across each of these areas and will investigate the various ways in which select works celebrate, chronicle, or challenge both the prosperity of the immediate post-war years and the turmoil of the depression decade that followed. Major figures to be considered include authors (Willa Cather, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and William Faulkner), filmmakers (F.W. Murnau, Charlie Chaplin, Mac Wellman, and Orson Welles), and playwrights (Elmer Rice, Sophie Treadwell, Clifford Odets, Eugene O’Neil, and Thornton Wilder). Major topics to be considered include the rise of American modernism, the development of the “classical” cinematic style, expressionism and realism on the American stage, as well as historical and sociological factors including the legacy of the First World War, the changing social place of women, economic prosperity and economic ruin, mechanization and industrialization, and changing attitudes toward political activism and ideology. Taken in total, we will aim to better understand the artistic experimentation and vibrant interchange that marked this unique epoch in American arts and letters. Students will be assessed through a combination of discussion participation, a review article, a short paper, and a final paper.

Description: Film is a collaborative medium, but auteur theory argues that certain film directors are able to put an individual stamp on their work such that they can be regarded as the legitimate “author” of their films. In this class, we will take a detailed look at some of the most prominent contemporary “film auteurs,” those directors with a consistent and identifiable visual style, narrative approach, and set of thematic preoccupations. We will also consider key challenges to auteurism. Major questions to be considered include: In what ways might these directors’ body of films be regarded and analyzed as texts? To what extent can we (or should we) ascribe them authorship of their films? How does the concept of auteurship challenge or complicate other methods of film analysis, and in what ways can it work in concert with them? Through this class, students can expect to obtain a solid grounding in some of the major tactics and techniques of film analysis and in the rigorous study of filmic texts.

Texts: Bordwell and Thompson, Film Art: An Introduction; Grant, Auteurs and Authorship: A Film Reader; supplementary readings as assigned.

36015 • Fall 2013
Meets TTH 5:00PM-6:30PM PAR 210

Prerequisites: Six semester hours of upper-division coursework in English.

Description: Film noir is more than a genre—it’s a style and a mood of filmmaking. In this course, we will look in detail at the origins, characteristics, cultural context, and legacy of film noir in American cinema. Beginning with noir’s origins and antecedents in German expressionism, we will examine both the rise of the “classic” noir formula and some of the most famous challenges to this dogma, from the 1945 Technicolor noir Leave Her to Heaven to the femme fatale-less 1948 classic The Third Man. We will also look at the visual and narrative legacy of noir in the development of the neo-noir film by directors like Scorsese, Lynch, the Coen brothers, and Tarantino as well as the infusion of noir elements into other genres. Ongoing consideration will be given to noir in its social and cultural context. By the end of the course, students can expect to have gained fluency in the major tactics of film analysis as well as a grounding in the history and legacy of noir.

Textsmay include:T-Men, M, Cat People, Laura, Double Indemnity, Scarlett Street, Leave Her to Heaven, Detour, The Lady from Shanghai, Out of the Past, The Third Man, Kiss Me Deadly, Chinatown, Blade Runner; Course Reader with film scholarship and context on each movement.

Requirements & Grading: participation (15%); two 5-page essays, one of which will be revised (25% + 25%); one 8-10-page essay (35%).

Description: This course presents a detailed examination of a select body of films that proved to be inflection points in the history of the cinema: pictures that changed the vernacular of filmmaking, that opened up new generic or stylistic directions, or that epitomized the work of a widely influential director. Through this examination, students can expect to obtain a solid grounding in film history and film theory as well as an introduction to the study of film genres and movements. Most of all, students will become versed in the major tactics and techniques of film analysis and in the rigorous study of filmic texts. Works to be considered range from the early sound era to the late twentieth century. You will be required to watch two films a week for this class; films will be watched independently, outside of class time.

Texts: Texts include Bordwell and Thompson-Film Art: An Introduction; supplementary readings as assigned.

Description: From its origins in the 1910s to the rise of Pixar Studios, animation has proved one of the most enduring and versatile artforms of the past century. In this class, we will take a broad perspective on the history and theory of animation in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, both in America and internationally. Students will also be introduced to the theoretical study of the animated film as a cinematic text and to key works on animation in film theory. Key topics and themes to be discussed include early animation of the 1910s and 1920s, major animation studios (Bray, Disney, Warner Brothers, MGM, Hanna Barbara, Van Beuren, UPA, Fox, Pixar) and figures (Harman and Ising, Leon Schlesinger, Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, Walter Lantz, Max Fleischer), television animation, wartime animation, documentary and non-fiction animation, the rise of computer animation, anime and other movements in European and non-Western animation. Ongoing consideration will also be given to transhistoric issues including animation’s shifting place in children’s culture and adult culture, animation’s relationship to popular culture and to high culture, and animation’s intersections with and influence on other media and genres.

Texts: Readings as assigned, provided by the instructor. Animated films to be discussed include selected shorts and full-length features from the 1910s to the present day. You will be required to watch several films a week for this class; films will be watched independently, outside of class time.

Description: This course presents a detailed examination of a select body of films that proved to be inflection points in the history of the cinema: pictures that changed the vernacular of filmmaking, that opened up new generic or stylistic directions, or that epitomized the work of a widely influential director. Through this examination, students can expect to obtain a solid grounding in film history and film theory as well as an introduction to the study of film genres and movements. Most of all, students will become versed in the major tactics and techniques of film analysis and in the rigorous study of filmic texts. Works to be considered range from the early sound era to the late twentieth century. You will be required to watch two films a week for this class; films will be watched independently, outside of class time.

Texts: Texts include Bordwell and Thompson-Film Art: An Introduction; supplementary readings as assigned.

E 344L • Major Film Movements

35295 • Fall 2011
Meets TTH 3:30PM-5:00PM PAR 206

Description: Since its inception, and accelerating with the end of the Golden Age of classic Hollywood, the film industry has been marked by a succession of filmmaking movements that espouse particular, and often conflicting, philosophies of filmic storytelling and technique. In this course, students will receive a detailed overview of the major film movements that helped to define both filmmaking and film scholarship over the last half-century. In particular, we will look at Neo-Realism, New Wave, and New Hollywood, with short excursions into the Independent cinematic trends that followed in their wake in the US and abroad. Looking at the leading filmmakers of each movement and the major works of film scholarship that have sought to understand and contextualize their innovations and approaches, students will receive a broad introduction to both the language of film composition and the core techniques of film analysis. The course will focus primarily on each movement in its filmic manifestations but will include forays into corresponding literary and dramatic movements throughout for wider artistic context. By the end of the course, students can expect to have gained fluency in the major tactics of film analysis as well as a grounding in the development of some of the key movements in American and international film.

E 379R • Film Noir: Texts And Film

35518 • Fall 2011
Meets TTH 12:30PM-2:00PM PAR 206

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: Film noir is more than a genre—it’s a style and a mood of filmmaking. In this course, we will look in detail at the origins, characteristics, cultural context, and legacy of film noir in American cinema. Beginning with noir’s origins and antecedents in German expressionism, we will examine both the rise of the “classic” noir formula and some of the most famous challenges to this dogma, from the 1945 Technicolor noir Leave Her to Heaven to the femme fatale-less 1948 classic The Third Man. We will also look at the visual and narrative legacy of noir in the development of the neo-noir film by directors like Scorsese, Lynch, the Coen brothers, and Tarantino as well as the infusion of noir elements into other genres. Ongoing consideration will be given to noir in its social and cultural context. By the end of the course, students can expect to have gained fluency in the major tactics of film analysis as well as a grounding in the history and legacy of noir.

Textsmay include:T-Men, M, Cat People, Laura, Double Indemnity, Scarlett Street, Leave Her to Heaven, Detour, The Lady from Shanghai, Out of the Past, The Third Man, Kiss Me Deadly, Chinatown, Blade Runner; Course Reader with film scholarship and context on each movement.

Requirements & Grading: Participation (15%); two 5-page essays, one of which will be revised (25% + 25%); one 8-10-page essay (35%)

This course will include weekly film screenings.

E F344L • Citizen Kane And Company

83570 • Summer 2011
Meets MTWTHF 11:30AM-1:00PM PAR 303

Description: This course presents a detailed examination of a select body of films that proved to be inflection points in the history of the cinema: pictures that changed the vernacular of filmmaking, that opened up new generic or stylistic directions, or that epitomized the work of a widely influential director. Through this examination, students can expect to obtain a solid grounding in film history and film theory as well as an introduction to the study of film genres and movements. Most of all, students will become versed in the major tactics and techniques of film analysis and in the rigorous study of filmic texts. Works to be considered range from the early sound era to the late twentieth century. You will be required to watch two films a week for this class; films will be watched independently, outside of class time

Texts: Texts include Bordwell and Thompson-Film Art: An Introduction; supplementary readings as assigned.

E 344L • Am Lit/Film/Cul Between Wwi/II

35540 • Spring 2011
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM PAR 206

Description: From the Roaring Twenties to the Great Depression, the period in the United States between the First and Second World Wars was one of the most dynamic and turbulent of the twentieth century—as well as one of the most artistically influential. In this course, we will take a broad look at some of the major artistic figures and products of the age in the areas of literature, film, drama, and other avenues of popular culture like animation. Reading these works in light of the political and social dynamics of the era, we will investigate the various ways in which works in each medium celebrate, chronicle, and challenge both the prosperity of the immediate post-war years and the turmoil of the depression decade that followed. Viewing them in both an artistic and a social context, we will study the rise of modernism in American literature and drama alongside and in light of the invention of a new filmic language in the pioneering use of cinematography, editing, and sound that marked the cinema of this period. Taken in total, we will aim to better understand the vibrant artistic experimentation and interchange that marked this unique epoch in American life. Major topics to be considered include the legacy of the First World War, the changing place of women, economic prosperity and economic ruin, mechanization and industrialization, political activism and ideology, and concepts of the modern.

Texts:

Novels:My Antonia, The Great Gatsby, The Sun Also Rises, As I Lay Dying, Miss Lonelyhearts; Plays:The Adding Machine, Machinal, Dinner at Eight, Waiting for Lefty, Strange Interlude, Bury the Dead, The Skin of Our Teeth.

Films:Sunrise, Wings, Modern Times, City Lights, The Public Enemy, The Roaring Twenties, 42nd Street, The Magnificent Ambersons.

E 344L • Am Lit/Film/Cul Between Wwi/II

34638 • Fall 2010
Meets TTH 11:00AM-12:30PM PAR 206

Description: From the Roaring Twenties to the Great Depression, the period in the United States between the First and Second World Wars was one of the most dynamic and turbulent of the twentieth century—as well as one of the most artistically influential. In this course, we will take a broad look at some of the major artistic figures and products of the age in the areas of literature, film, drama, and other avenues of popular culture like animation. Reading these works in light of the political and social dynamics of the era, we will investigate the various ways in which works in each medium celebrate, chronicle, and challenge both the prosperity of the immediate post-war years and the turmoil of the depression decade that followed. Viewing them in both an artistic and a social context, we will study the rise of modernism in American literature and drama alongside and in light of the invention of a new filmic language in the pioneering use of cinematography, editing, and sound that marked the cinema of this period. Taken in total, we will aim to better understand the vibrant artistic experimentation and interchange that marked this unique epoch in American life. Major topics to be considered include the legacy of the First World War, the changing place of women, economic prosperity and economic ruin, mechanization and industrialization, political activism and ideology, and concepts of the modern.

Novels: My Antonia, The Great Gatsby, The Sun Also Rises, As I Lay Dying, Miss Lonelyhearts; Plays: The Adding Machine, Machinal, Dinner at Eight, Waiting for Lefty, Strange Interlude, Bury the Dead, The Skin of Our Teeth;

Films:Sunrise, Wings, Modern Times, City Lights, The Public Enemy, The Roaring Twenties, 42nd Street, The Magnificent Ambersons

E 344L • Am Lit/Film/Cul Between Wwi/II

34639 • Fall 2010
Meets TTH 12:30PM-2:00PM PAR 308

Course Description: From the Roaring Twenties to the Great Depression, the period in the United States between the First and Second World Wars was one of the most dynamic and turbulent of the twentieth century—as well as one of the most artistically influential. In this course, we will take a broad look at some of the major artistic figures and products of the age in the areas of literature, film, drama, and other avenues of popular culture like animation. Reading these works in light of the political and social dynamics of the era, we will investigate the various ways in which works in each medium celebrate, chronicle, and challenge both the prosperity of the immediate post-war years and the turmoil of the depression decade that followed. Viewing them in both an artistic and a social context, we will study the rise of modernism in American literature and drama alongside and in light of the invention of a new filmic language in the pioneering use of cinematography, editing, and sound that marked the cinema of this period. Taken in total, we will aim to better understand the vibrant artistic experimentation and interchange that marked this unique epoch in American life. Major topics to be considered include the legacy of the First World War, the changing place of women, economic prosperity and economic ruin, mechanization and industrialization, political activism and ideology, and concepts of the modern.

Texts:My Antonia, The Great Gatsby, The Sun Also Rises, As I Lay Dying, Miss Lonelyhearts; Plays: The Adding Machine, Machinal, Dinner at Eight, Waiting for Lefty, Strange Interlude, Bury the Dead, The Skin of Our Teeth;

Films:Sunrise, Wings, Modern Times, City Lights, The Public Enemy, The Roaring Twenties, 42nd Street, The Magnificent Ambersons

E 379R • Great Amer Auths Go Hollywood

34945 • Fall 2010
Meets MW 5:00PM-6:30PM PAR 103

Course Description: The cinema has a storied history of attracting writers from other mediums into its ranks—for reasons both artistic and economic, sometimes to great and sometimes to little effect. In this seminar, we will consider both the well-known and the forgotten cinematic output of some of America’s most canonical authors from the silent era to the mid-twentieth century, investigating what they brought to the cinema, how their technique and output differed from, borrowed from, or was changed by the work of the professional screenwriters around them and the studio system of which they were a part, and how their work in film might change the way we read the works for which they are most famous. Novelists, playwrights, and poets considered include John Steinbeck, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Elmer Rice, Eugene O’Neill, Thornton Wilder, Tennessee Williams, W. H. Auden and T. S. Eliot.

E F344L • The Animated Film As Text

83075 • Summer 2010
Meets MTWTHF 1:00PM-2:30PM PAR 303

Course Description: From its origins in the 1910s to the rise of Pixar Studios, animation has proved one of the most enduring and versatile artforms of the past century. In this class, we will take a broad perspective on the history and theory of animation in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, both in America and internationally. Students will also be introduced to the theoretical study of the animated film as a cinematic text and to key works on animation in film theory. Key topics and themes to be discussed include early animation of the 1910s and 1920s, major animation studios (Bray, Disney, Warner Brothers, MGM, Hanna Barbara, Van Beuren, UPA, Fox, Pixar) and figures (Harman and Ising, Leon Schlesinger, Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, Walter Lantz, Max Fleischer), television animation, wartime animation, documentary and non-fiction animation, the rise of computer animation, anime and other movements in European and non-Western animation. Ongoing consideration will also be given to transhistoric issues including animation’s shifting place in children’s culture and adult culture, animation’s relationship to popular culture and to high culture, and animation’s intersections with and influence on other media and genres.

Texts: Key Texts: Paul Wells, Understanding Animation; Jayne Pilling, A Reader in Animation Studies; Paul Wells, Animation and America. Animated films to be discussed include selected shorts and full-length features from the 1910s to the present day. Please note that for feature length animated films there will be occasional screenings outside of class time (dates and times tbd).

E 344L • Amer Playwrights & Directors-W

34840 • Spring 2010
Meets MW 5:00PM-6:30PM PAR 206

American Playwrights and American Directors

English 344L, Class Unique Number: 34840

Spring 2010, PAR 206Mondays and Wednesdays, 5:00-6:30

Instructor:

Donna Kornhaber

Office: Calhoun 18

Email: donna.kornhaber@mail.utexas.edu

Office phone: 512-471-4917

Office Hours:

Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:00-3:3

I. Description

Throughout the twentieth century, close collaborations between leading American playwrights and ground-breaking American directors have proved vital to the development of a vibrant and unique American drama, from Eugene O’Neill’s involvement with George Cram Cook and the Provincetown Players to Chuck L. Mee’s engagements with Anne Bogart and the SITI Company. In this seminar, we will examine several of the most prominent playwright-director relationships from the early twentieth century to the contemporary age to uncover how these productive—though often tempestuous—partnerships helped shape the course of the American theatre. Key questions to be considered include differences between a writerly and directorial approach to the stage, issues of authority and control in rehearsal and theatrical production, literary versus visual means of storytelling, and the influence of both revisions and rehearsals on the development of a final theatrical product. Through this course of study, we will aim to arrive at a more complete understanding of the writer-director relationship as it has existed in the American theatre of the past century and a better sense of its place and importance within the context of theatre history.

II. Course Requirements:

1. Class attendance and participation policy:

a. Attend all scheduled classes and arrive on time

Missed Classes: In the event you must miss a class, you can do so on 3 instances without it affecting your final grade. These 3 missed classes do not need to be excused, but please let me know of your absence as far in advance as possible. Beyond these 3 classes, all absences must be excused. Reasons for excused absences include illness (with doctor’s note), team sports or approved activities, and family emergencies. Any unexcused absences beyond the allowed 3 missed classes will lower your final class grade by 1/3 of a letter.

Religious Holy Days: By UT Austin policy, you must notify me of your pending absence at least fourteen days prior to the date of observance of a religious holy day. If you must miss a class, an examination, a work assignment, or a project in order to observe a religious holy day, I will give you an opportunity to complete the missed work within a reasonable time after the absence.

2. Course Readings/Materials:

Please refer to the end of this syllabus for a full list of required course readings

Additional readings and materials may also be provided by the instructor in the form of handouts or electronic attachments throughout the course

3. Assignments, Assessment, and Evaluation

Term papers and other assignments are due at the start of class on the dates listed in the Tentative Course Schedule unless otherwise rescheduled by the instructor

Unless arrangements for an extension are made in advance with the instructor, late papers or assignments will be marked down 1/3 of a letter for every class period they are late

All assignments and due dates listed are subject to change with notice from the instructor to better suit class development and progression

III. Grading Procedures:

Participation will be evaluated based on frequency of engagement in the classroom discussion. Engagement does not, however, mean verbal expression for its own sake. Active listening and responding to peers are critical components of classroom engagement. There is no particular quota for discussion contributions; rather the expectation is that all students will be continuously engaged in listening and responding to one another’s thoughts and opinions.

A list of potential topics for short and long essays will be distributed by the instructor prior to the due date for each assignment. Students are welcome to develop their own paper topics for any of the assigned essays but must receive approval from the instructor for their topic prior to beginning the paper. Papers will be evaluated not only on the quality of the ideas and supporting analysis presented but also on the effectiveness of the organization and communication of those ideas. More specific expectations will be discussed in class at the time that paper topics are distributed. Any student with questions regarding paper expectations should speak individually with the instructor prior to beginning the paper.

For each of the short papers, students will be assigned a revision partner; partners will exchange papers with one another prior to the submission date and provide peer feedback for each other. In addition, students will be able to select one of the two short papers to revise for a new grade based on instructor feedback and direction, if they so choose.

IV. Other University Notices and Policies

University of Texas Honor Code

The core values of The University of Texas at Austin are learning, discovery, freedom, leadership, individual opportunity, and responsibility. Each member of the university is expected to uphold these values through integrity, honesty, trust, fairness, and respect toward peers and community.

Documented Disability Statement

Any student with a documented disability who requires academic accommodations should contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at (512) 471-6259 (voice) or 1-866-329-3986 (video phone). Faculty are not required to provide accommodations without an official accommodation letter from SSD.

Please notify me as quickly as possible if the material being presented in class is not accessible (e.g., instructional videos need captioning, course packets are not readable for proper alternative text conversion, etc.).

Please notify me as early in the semester as possible if disability-related accommodations for field trips are required. Advanced notice will permit the arrangement of accommodations on the given day (e.g., transportation, site accessibility, etc.).

I. Description

Since its inception, and accelerating with the end of the Golden Age of classic Hollywood, the film industry has been marked by a succession of filmmaking movements which espouse particular, and often conflicting, philosophies of filmic storytelling and technique. In this course, students will receive a detailed overview of the major film movements that helped to define both filmmaking and film scholarship over the last half-century. In particular, we will look at Neo-Realism, New Wave, and New Hollywood, with short excursions into the Independent cinematic trends that followed in their wake in the US and abroad. Looking at the leading filmmakers of each movement and the major works of film scholarship that have sought to understand and contextualize their innovations and approaches, students will receive a broad introduction to both the language of film composition and the core techniques of film analysis. The course will focus primarily on each movement in its filmic manifestations but will include forays into corresponding literary and dramatic movements throughout for wider artistic context. By the end of the course, students can expect to have gained fluency in the major tactics of film analysis as well as a grounding in the development of some of the key movements in American and international film.

II. Course Requirements:

1. Class attendance and participation policy:

a.) Attend all scheduled classes and arrive on time

Missed Classes: In the event you must miss a class, you can do so on 3 instances without it affecting your final grade. These 3 missed classes do not need to be excused, but please let me know of your absence as far in advance as possible. Beyond these 3 classes, all absences must be excused. Reasons for excused absences include illness (with doctor’s note), team sports or approved activities, and family emergencies. Any unexcused absences beyond the allowed 3 missed classes will lower your final class grade by 1/3 of a letter.

Religious Holy Days: By UT Austin policy, you must notify me of your pending absence at least fourteen days prior to the date of observance of a religious holy day. If you must miss a class, an examination, a work assignment, or a project in order to observe a religious holy day, I will give you an opportunity to complete the missed work within a reasonable time after the absence.

2. Course Readings/Materials:

Please refer to the end of this syllabus for a full list of required course readings

Additional readings and materials may also be provided by the instructor in the form of handouts or electronic attachments throughout the course

3. Assignments, Assessment, and Evaluation

Term papers and other assignments are due at the start of class on the dates listed in the Tentative Course Schedule unless otherwise rescheduled by the instructor

Unless arrangements for an extension are made in advance with the instructor, late papers or assignments will be marked down 1/3 of a letter for every class period they are late

All assignments and due dates listed are subject to change with notice from the instructor to better suit class development and progression

III. Grading Procedures:

Participation will be evaluated based on attendance at weekly screenings and frequency of engagement in the classroom discussion. Engagement does not, however, mean verbal expression for its own sake. Active listening and responding to peers are critical components of classroom engagement. There is no particular quota for discussion contributions; rather the expectation is that all students will be continuously engaged in listening and responding to one another’s thoughts and opinions.

A list of potential topics for short and long essays will be distributed by the instructor prior to the due date for each assignment. Students are welcome to develop their own paper topics for any of the assigned essays but must receive approval from the instructor for their topic prior to beginning the paper. Papers will be evaluated not only on the quality of the ideas and supporting analysis presented but also on the effectiveness of the organization and communication of those ideas. More specific expectations will be discussed in class at the time that paper topics are distributed. Any student with questions regarding paper expectations should speak individually with the instructor prior to beginning the paper.

For each of the short papers, students will be assigned a revision partner; partners will exchange papers with one another prior to the submission date and provide peer feedback for each other. In addition, students will be able to select one of the two short papers to revise for a new grade based on instructor feedback and direction, if they so choose.

IV. Other University Notices and Policies

University of Texas Honor Code

The core values of The University of Texas at Austin are learning, discovery, freedom, leadership, individual opportunity, and responsibility. Each member of the university is expected to uphold these values through integrity, honesty, trust, fairness, and respect toward peers and community.

Documented Disability Statement

Any student with a documented disability who requires academic accommodations should contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at (512) 471-6259 (voice) or 1-866-329-3986 (video phone). Faculty are not required to provide accommodations without an official accommodation letter from SSD.

Please notify me as quickly as possible if the material being presented in class is not accessible (e.g., instructional videos need captioning, course packets are not readable for proper alternative text conversion, etc.).

Please notify me as early in the semester as possible if disability-related accommodations for field trips are required. Advanced notice will permit the arrangement of accommodations on the given day (e.g., transportation, site accessibility, etc.).

I. Description

Hollywood has always relied on classic works of literature for inspiration and for source material. In this course, we will examine film adaptations of classic novels made specifically during the silent era, when the respective languages of literature and film were seemingly at their most distinct and yet still inimitably intertwined. In particular, we will investigate the challenges and implications of translating stories from the textual medium of the novel into what was at that time the purely visual medium of silent film. In addition to looking at the choices and changes made in specific adaptations, we will investigate the ways in which the process of adapting literary works helped to shape the developing visual language of film and influenced still-evolving methods of filmic storytelling. Both borrowing from and defining itself against novelistic technique, the language of film developed by such early directing pioneers as D.W. Griffith, F.W. Murnau, Eric von Stroheim, Buster Keaton and Fritz Lang would prove deeply influenced by each artist's grappling with the stories and storytelling methods of their literary source texts. Actors represented in the course include Mary Pickford, John Barrymore, Lon Chaney, Lillian Gish, Greta Garbo, and Buster Keaton. Most literary texts on the list will be read in extended excerpts chosen for their relevance to the film adaptations; most films (which range in length) will be viewed in totality during weekly screenings, although some will instead be viewed in excerpts during class.

II. Course Requirements:

1. Class attendance and participation policy:

a) Attend all scheduled classes and arrive on time

Missed Classes: In the event you must miss a class, you can do so on 3 instances without it affecting your final grade. These 3 missed classes do not need to be excused, but please let me know of your absence as far in advance as possible. Beyond these 3 classes, all absences must be excused. Reasons for excused absences include illness (with doctor’s note), team sports or approved activities, and family emergencies. Any unexcused absences beyond the allowed 3 missed classes will lower your final class grade by 1/3 of a letter.

Religious Holy Days: By UT Austin policy, you must notify me of your pending absence at least fourteen days prior to the date of observance of a religious holy day. If you must miss a class, an examination, a work assignment, or a project in order to observe a religious holy day, I will give you an opportunity to complete the missed work within a reasonable time after the absence.

2. Course Readings/Materials:

Please refer to the end of this syllabus for a full list of required course readings

Additional readings and materials may also be provided by the instructor in the form of handouts or electronic attachments throughout the course

3. Assignments, Assessment, and Evaluation

Term papers and other assignments are due at the start of class on the dates listed in the Tentative Course Schedule unless otherwise rescheduled by the instructor

Unless arrangements for an extension are made in advance with the instructor, late papers or assignments will be marked down 1/3 of a letter for every class period they are late

All assignments and due dates listed are subject to change with notice from the instructor to better suit class development and progressio

III. Grading Procedures:

Grades will be based on:

(a) Class Participation/Screening Attendance 15%

(b) Short essay #1 (5 pages) 25%

(c) Short essay #2 (5 pages) 25%

(d) Long essay (8-10 pages) 35%

Participation will be evaluated based on attendance at weekly screenings and frequency of engagement in the classroom discussion. Engagement does not, however, mean verbal expression for its own sake. Active listening and responding to peers are critical components of classroom engagement. There is no particular quota for discussion contributions; rather the expectation is that all students will be continuously engaged in listening and responding to one another’s thoughts and opinions.

A list of potential topics for short and long essays will be distributed by the instructor prior to the due date for each assignment. Students are welcome to develop their own paper topics for any of the assigned essays but must receive approval from the instructor for their topic prior to beginning the paper. Papers will be evaluated not only on the quality of the ideas and supporting analysis presented but also on the effectiveness of the organization and communication of those ideas. More specific expectations will be discussed in class at the time that paper topics are distributed. Any student with questions regarding paper expectations should speak individually with the instructor prior to beginning the paper.

For each of the short papers, students will be assigned a revision partner; partners will exchange papers with one another prior to the submission date and provide peer feedback for each other. In addition, students will be able to select one of the two short papers to revise for a new grade based on instructor feedback and direction, if they so choose.

IV. Other University Notices and Policies

University of Texas Honor Code

The core values of The University of Texas at Austin are learning, discovery, freedom, leadership, individual opportunity, and responsibility. Each member of the university is expected to uphold these values through integrity, honesty, trust, fairness, and respect toward peers and community.

Documented Disability Statement

Any student with a documented disability who requires academic accommodations should contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at (512) 471-6259 (voice) or 1-866-329-3986 (video phone). Faculty are not required to provide accommodations without an official accommodation letter from SSD.

Please notify me as quickly as possible if the material being presented in class is not accessible (e.g., instructional videos need captioning, course packets are not readable for proper alternative text conversion, etc.).

Please notify me as early in the semester as possible if disability-related accommodations for field trips are required. Advanced notice will permit the arrangement of accommodations on the given day (e.g., transportation, site accessibility, etc.).